Occidental Petroleum Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:OXY)

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (NYSE:OXY) saw some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 122,354 call options on the company. This is an increase of 49% compared to the average volume of 82,180 call options.

Trending Headlines about Occidental Petroleum

Here are the key news stories impacting Occidental Petroleum this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Evercore ISI double-upgraded Occidental Petroleum to Outperform from Underperform and lifted its price target to $65 from $58, saying the company should benefit from deleveraging, stronger cash flow, and improved capital efficiency. Occidental upgraded as Evercore sees deleveraging driving cash flow upside
• Positive Sentiment: Brent crude jumped on renewed Middle East supply concerns, which tends to boost Occidental’s earnings and free cash flow because the company is highly sensitive to oil prices. Why Is Occidental Petroleum Stock Surging on Wednesday?
• Positive Sentiment: Several market reports pointed to OXY as a beneficiary of both the analyst upgrade and the crude rally, reinforcing the move in the shares. Occidental Petroleum (OXY) Surges Nearly 4% on Analyst Upgrade and Crude Rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage noted that Morgan Stanley trimmed its price target on Occidental, but the article did not indicate a major change in the broader bullish setup. Morgan Stanley Trims Price Target on Occidental Petroleum (OXY). Here is Why
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks articles said investors have recently been paying close attention to OXY and that the stock may be positioned to beat earnings estimates again, but these were more commentary than fresh catalysts. Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is Attracting Investor Attention: Here is What You Should Know

Insider Transactions at Occidental Petroleum

In other Occidental Petroleum news, CEO Richard A. Jackson purchased 4,770 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $52.38 per share, with a total value of $249,852.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 444,098 shares in the company, valued at $23,261,853.24. This represents a 1.09% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Occidental Petroleum

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in OXY. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 12.5% in the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 1,765 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 196 shares during the last quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Occidental Petroleum by 1.2% in the first quarter. Athena Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,547 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 15.8% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,615 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $78,000 after purchasing an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Carrera Capital Advisors now owns 44,279 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock worth $1,831,000 after purchasing an additional 227 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Occidental Petroleum by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 1,469 shares of the oil and gas producer’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 88.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on OXY. Roth Capital increased their price target on Occidental Petroleum from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 15th. Capital One Financial increased their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $67.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 6th. Stephens upped their price target on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $59.00 to $74.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Occidental Petroleum from $65.00 to $57.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and sixteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $64.48.

Occidental Petroleum Price Performance

OXY stock traded up $2.67 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $54.35. The company had a trading volume of 9,830,706 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,987,984. Occidental Petroleum has a 1-year low of $38.80 and a 1-year high of $67.45. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $55.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $52.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The company has a market capitalization of $54.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70 and a beta of 0.15.

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The oil and gas producer reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.46. Occidental Petroleum had a net margin of 19.98% and a return on equity of 9.65%. The company had revenue of $5.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 8.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Occidental Petroleum will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Occidental Petroleum Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, June 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.26 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 10th. This represents a $1.04 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.9%. Occidental Petroleum’s payout ratio is presently 26.20%.

About Occidental Petroleum

Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) is an international energy company engaged primarily in the exploration, production and marketing of oil and natural gas. The company conducts upstream activities to discover and produce hydrocarbons and operates complementary midstream and marketing functions to transport and sell its production. Occidental also owns a chemicals business that manufactures and sells industrial chemicals and related products for a range of end markets.

Occidental’s operations are concentrated in the United States, with a significant presence in the Permian Basin, and it maintains exploration and production activities in several international regions, including parts of the Middle East, Latin America and Africa.